Iraq’s Minorities: Participation in Public Life

Iraq’s Minorities: Participation in Public Life PDF Author:
Publisher: Minority Rights Group
ISBN: 1907919112
Category : Social Science
Languages : uk
Pages : 40

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Book Description
Taking part in everyday public life – practising religion, accessing jobs and public services, taking part in politics, travelling freely – is a challenge for many people in Iraq, but members of ethnic and religious minorities face particular obstacles. They may feel that they have to hide their identity when they leave the house. When they go to public bodies to access services, they fear that their identity will be revealed, and services will be denied to them. Minority women are particularly vulnerable to abuse and are subject to violence and discrimination both because of their sex and their minority affiliation. In a country where getting a job or public services often depends on which political party you belong to, minorities often feel that if they join their community's own party, they will lose out. This report is based on the findings of original field research, for which over 330 members from 11 minority communities were interviewed. It focuses on the Kurdistan Region; Diyala, Kirkuk and Nineveh in the north; Baghdad, Babil and Basra, given the concentration of minorities in these areas. The report highlights that tensions between Kurds and Arabs over disputed territories in Kirkuk and Nineveh mean that they have become the most dangerous areas in the country in terms of security and freedom to access rights and services, particularly for minorities. This report is intended to galvanize efforts to establish and maintain a peaceful, prosperous and inclusive society in Iraq. This can only happen if minorities are free to worship and practice their culture, live without fear of coercion, harassment or discrimination in their daily lives. Currently, they face targeted threats and violence, the destruction of their places of worship, the loss of homes and property and lack of government protection of their rights. This violence has caused significant numbers of minorities to flee Iraq, in some cases decimating communities to the point that they risk disappearing altogether from their ancient homeland. In looking for solutions, this report highlights the need to change laws and policies which discriminate against minorities; increase the availability of bilingual education; and design targeted programmes to address poverty and education gaps among minority communities.

Iraq’s Minorities: Participation in Public Life

Iraq’s Minorities: Participation in Public Life PDF Author:
Publisher: Minority Rights Group
ISBN: 1907919112
Category : Social Science
Languages : uk
Pages : 40

Get Book Here

Book Description
Taking part in everyday public life – practising religion, accessing jobs and public services, taking part in politics, travelling freely – is a challenge for many people in Iraq, but members of ethnic and religious minorities face particular obstacles. They may feel that they have to hide their identity when they leave the house. When they go to public bodies to access services, they fear that their identity will be revealed, and services will be denied to them. Minority women are particularly vulnerable to abuse and are subject to violence and discrimination both because of their sex and their minority affiliation. In a country where getting a job or public services often depends on which political party you belong to, minorities often feel that if they join their community's own party, they will lose out. This report is based on the findings of original field research, for which over 330 members from 11 minority communities were interviewed. It focuses on the Kurdistan Region; Diyala, Kirkuk and Nineveh in the north; Baghdad, Babil and Basra, given the concentration of minorities in these areas. The report highlights that tensions between Kurds and Arabs over disputed territories in Kirkuk and Nineveh mean that they have become the most dangerous areas in the country in terms of security and freedom to access rights and services, particularly for minorities. This report is intended to galvanize efforts to establish and maintain a peaceful, prosperous and inclusive society in Iraq. This can only happen if minorities are free to worship and practice their culture, live without fear of coercion, harassment or discrimination in their daily lives. Currently, they face targeted threats and violence, the destruction of their places of worship, the loss of homes and property and lack of government protection of their rights. This violence has caused significant numbers of minorities to flee Iraq, in some cases decimating communities to the point that they risk disappearing altogether from their ancient homeland. In looking for solutions, this report highlights the need to change laws and policies which discriminate against minorities; increase the availability of bilingual education; and design targeted programmes to address poverty and education gaps among minority communities.

No Way Home: Iraq’s minorities on the verge of disappearance

No Way Home: Iraq’s minorities on the verge of disappearance PDF Author: William Spencer
Publisher: Minority Rights Group
ISBN: 1907919813
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
No Way Home: Iraq’s minorities on the verge of disappearance seeks to document the situation of Iraq’s ethnic and religious minorities most affected by the violence that escalated after the fall of Mosul in June 2014. It is a follow-up report to Between the Millstones: The State of Iraq’s Minorities since the Fall of Mosul, published in March 2015. Since June 2014, many thousands of persons belonging to minorities have been murdered, maimed or abducted, including unknown numbers of women and girls forced into marriage or sexual enslavement. ISIS forces and commanders have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide, including summary executions, killing, mutilation, rape, sexual violence, torture, cruel treatment, the use and recruitment of children, outrages on personal dignity, and the use of chemical weapons. Cultural and religious heritage dating back centuries continues to be destroyed, while property and possessions have been systematically looted. These abuses are ongoing at the time of writing and appear to be part of a conscious attempt to eradicate Iraq’s religious and ethnic diversity. It should also be stressed that as the latest phase in the conflict reaches a two-year benchmark, forces fighting ISIS have also apparently committed human rights and international humanitarian law violations, including Iraqi Security Forces, Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish Peshmerga. The millions of displaced still remain in camps, and there are no serious returns to areas retaken from ISIS. As of March 2016, internal displacement exceeded 3.3 million. Iraqi sources estimate the total number of those who have lost their homes and are internally displaced at more than 4 million, factoring in those IDPs not registered. Currently, there appears to be no serious Iraqi or international effort to build the political, social and economic conditions for the sustainable return of those who lost homes and livelihoods as a result of the conflict. Militias and unscrupulous local authorities are exploiting this vacuum. This report is called ‘No Way Home’ to highlight the despair Iraqi ethnic and religious communities feel about prospects for return. This perspective is rooted both in a sense of hopelessness about the prospect of return and frustration with the continued deterioration of humanitarian conditions. There is a lack of trust that the government, regional actors, local officials or the international community will provide the necessary support to facilitate returns, locate missing persons, provide justice, facilitate the difficult process of reconciliation and ensure the return of looted possessions and homes. The result will be another Iraqi lost generation, radicalized by homelessness and depredation, repeating the cycle that created ISIS.

Beyond ISIS: History and Future of Religious Minorities in Iraq

Beyond ISIS: History and Future of Religious Minorities in Iraq PDF Author: Bayar Mustafa Sevdeen
Publisher: Transnational Press London
ISBN: 1912997150
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
This book shares papers from a conference taking a deeper look at the victims of ISIS and beyond that all religious minorities of Iraq. This is the first book that considers all the religious minorities that existed in modern Iraq, including both historic communities and new groups that recently came with labour migration, especially to the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan. The book resulted from a conference in 2018 organized exactly at the site of the Simele Massacre in 1933. The campus of the American University of Kurdistan is located on the site of the first big massacre against a religious minority in Iraq. The conference entitled ‘Beyond ISIS: Minorities and Religious Diversity in Iraq and the Future of Êzîdî, Christians, Shabak, Yarsan, Mandeans and other Religious Minorities in the Middle East’ brought together Iraqi and international scholars, activists, and religious and community representatives. This book contains papers presented at the conference that included contributions on Iraq’s religious diversity and the historical and contemporary consequences of genocide and persecution on the religious minorities of Iraq.

Uncertain Refuge, Dangerous Return: Iraq’s Uprooted Minorities

Uncertain Refuge, Dangerous Return: Iraq’s Uprooted Minorities PDF Author: Chris Chapman
Publisher: Minority Rights Group
ISBN: 190458490X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
Since the start of conflict in Iraq in 2003, the country’s minorities have suffered disproportionate levels of targeted violence because of their religions and ethnicities. Inside Iraq they continue to suffer this violence. Outside, they form a large proportion of those displaced, either by fleeing to neighbouring countries or seeking asylum further afield. But as this report clearly shows: having passed Iraq’s borders is no guarantee of safety. Asylum-seekers risk being turned back at the Greek border; if they continue into other member-states of the European Union they face increasingly restrictive asylum policies. For minorities the ramifications of this are stark. If rejected, they risk being sent back to Iraq. Dispersal policies which divide refugees of the same nationality between cities and towns have a serious impact on minority communities whose numbers may already be at the limits of sustainability. Such policies also ignore the needs of minorities, especially the need to maintain, as a community, their cultural identity and religious practices. There is also a tendency to ignore the plight of Muslim ethnic minorities in reporting and processing asylum claims. Drawing on numerous first-hand interviews with Iraq’s minority communities across the Middle East and Europe, this report details the considerable difficulties they face in the struggle to gain safety. It highlights that, for many minorities, return to the extremely precarious existence they face in Iraq is an impossible prospect. As asylum countries continue to use a combination of voluntary incentives and force to return Iraqi rejected asylum-seekers and refugees, this report offers an urgent analysis of the impact of such measures on minorities. It calls on the Government of Iraq and the international community to give greater consideration to the specific needs of Iraq’s religious and ethnic minorities in all matters of asylum, resettlement and return.

Iraq's Minorities

Iraq's Minorities PDF Author: Preti Taneja
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Minorities
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
Taking part in everyday public life -- practising religion, accessing jobs and public services, taking part in politics, travelling freely -- is a challenge for many people in Iraq, but members of ethnic and religious minorities face particular obstacles. They may feel that they have to hide their identity when they leave the house. When they go to public bodies to access services, they fear that their identity will be revealed, and services will be denied to them. Minority women are particularly vulnerable to abuse and are subject to violence and discrimination both because of their sex and their minority affiliation. In a country where getting a job or public services often depends on which political party you belong to, minorities often feel that if they join their community's own party, they will lose out. This report is based on the findings of original field research, for which over 330 members from 11 minority communities were interviewed. It focuses on the Kurdistan Region; Diyala, Kirkuk and Nineveh in the north; Baghdad, Babil and Basra, given the concentration of minorities in these areas. The report highlights that tensions between Kurds and Arabs over disputed territories in Kirkuk and Nineveh mean that they have become the most dangerous areas in the country in terms of security and freedom to access rights and services, particularly for minorities.

Uncertain Refuge, Dangerous Return

Uncertain Refuge, Dangerous Return PDF Author: Chris Chapman
Publisher: Minority Rights Group
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description
Since the start of conflict in Iraq in 2003, the country’s minorities have suffered disproportionate levels of targeted violence because of their religions and ethnicities. Inside Iraq they continue to suffer this violence. Outside, they form a large proportion of those displaced, either by fleeing to neighbouring countries or seeking asylum further afield. But as this report clearly shows: having passed Iraq’s borders is no guarantee of safety. Asylum-seekers risk being turned back at the Greek border; if they continue into other member-states of the European Union they face increasingly restrictive asylum policies. For minorities the ramifications of this are stark. If rejected, they risk being sent back to Iraq. Dispersal policies which divide refugees of the same nationality between cities and towns have a serious impact on minority communities whose numbers may already be at the limits of sustainability. Such policies also ignore the needs of minorities, especially the need to maintain, as a community, their cultural identity and religious practices. There is also a tendency to ignore the plight of Muslim ethnic minorities in reporting and processing asylum claims. Drawing on numerous first-hand interviews with Iraq’s minority communities across the Middle East and Europe, this report details the considerable difficulties they face in the struggle to gain safety. It highlights that, for many minorities, return to the extremely precarious existence they face in Iraq is an impossible prospect. As asylum countries continue to use a combination of voluntary incentives and force to return Iraqi rejected asylum-seekers and refugees, this report offers an urgent analysis of the impact of such measures on minorities. It calls on the Government of Iraq and the international community to give greater consideration to the specific needs of Iraq’s religious and ethnic minorities in all matters of asylum, resettlement and return.

Still Targeted

Still Targeted PDF Author: Mumtaz Lalani
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781904584988
Category : Iraq
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description


Crossroads

Crossroads PDF Author: William Spencer (Writer on human rights)
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781907919862
Category : Civil rights
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
"Seeks to document the situation of Iraq's ethnic and religious minorities most affected by the violence that escalated after the fall of Mosul in June 2014 ... Since June 2014, many thousands of persons belonging to minorities have been murdered, maimed or abducted, including unknown numbers of women and girls forced into marriage or sexual enslavement. ISIS forces and commanders have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide, including summary executions, killing, mutilation, rape, sexual violence, torture, cruel treatment, the use and recruitment of children, outrages on personal dignity, and the use of chemical weapons"--Publisher's web site.

Religious Minorities in Iraq

Religious Minorities in Iraq PDF Author: Maria Rita Corticelli
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755641337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
The religious minorities of Iraq suffered immense violence at the hands of ISIS and they are now trying to rebuild their lives. In their own words, this book tells their stories of resilience against oppression, creativity in the darkest moments, and hope amidst death. Covering the experiences of the Christians, Kakais, Yezidis, Sunni Muslims and Shabaks, among others, this is an in-depth investigation that reveals how the different communities narrate their beliefs and deal with life and recovery in the aftermath of ISIS. Existing literature on the religious minorities in Iraq treats them in isolation as if they do not interact. This is the first book to show that a strong network between them operates in the absence of a strong civil society and based on a common desire to coexist, reconstruct their society and build peace. Over three years, the author visited religious and archaeological sites and interviewed more than one hundred people between representatives of the religious communities, academics, activists, politicians, policy makers and refugees. Among them are victims and persecutors, men, women and children, all who have been overwhelmed by the tragic events of the last few years. The author shows that all these groups are animated by the same desire for a new, more tolerant society and that their treatment of each other is nurtured by their shared experience of persecution and oppression.

From Crisis to Catastrophe: the Situation of Minorities In

From Crisis to Catastrophe: the Situation of Minorities In PDF Author: Minority Rights Group
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Minorities
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
"The situation of Iraq's minorities -- including Chaldo-Assyrian and Armenian Christians, Turkmen, Yezidis, Kaka'i, Shabak, Sabean-Mandaeans, Baha'i, Faili Kurds, Black Iraqis and Roma -- is one of unfolding catastrophe. In the first nine months of 2014, over 12,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq, and religious and ethnic minorities have been among the primary targets. In areas controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham, minorities have been subject to summary executions, forced conversions, kidnappings, torture, sexual violence and destruction of property. At least half a million have been forced to flee their homes and lands in Ninewa with little more than the clothes on their backs. However, 2014 did not mark the beginning of the crisis for Iraq's minorities. For years they have been victims of assassinations, torture, kidnappings, armed robberies, and bombings targeting their religious rituals. Since minorities generally do not have their own militias or tribal protection structures like the majority groups in society, they are especially vulnerable. The federal government of Iraq has shown that it is either unable or unwilling to protect the safety of minorities. In the vast majority of cases, investigations are not properly conducted and the perpetrators of attacks go unpunished, often with indications of official complicity. The situation of minorities in Iraq has now reached the point of desperation. Many communities have been reduced in size by emigration and killing to the point that they are now in danger of extinction in Iraq. Villages in Ninewa governorate that have been home to minority communities for thousands of years have been all but emptied of their inhabitants. Across Iraq, the minorities who do remain live in constant fear for their safety. Their religious sites are the target of attacks and they are afraid of openly displaying their religious identities. Their areas suffer from deliberate neglect and they face high barriers in accessing education, employment, housing, healthcare and other essential services. This report seeks to give a comprehensive picture of the current situation of minorities in Iraq. Recommendations include urgent measures: to reverse the sectarianism gripping Iraq's government and security forces; to ensure that those responsible for attacks on minorities are held to account in Iraq and internationally before the International Criminal Court; to prevent the transfer of financial and material support to ISIS and other armed groups responsible for gross abuses; and, to provide refuge in foreign countries to Iraqis, including minorities, fleeing persecution. All parties to the conflict should abide by international humanitarian law and should prohibit any aerial bombardment or other attack expected to result in a disproportionate loss of civilian life"--Publisher's web site.